ex-CLG Red and Shimmer are going to Dallas

ESL Impact League Season 3 North America has reached its end by finding the two representatives from the region after a month-long group stage and a one-day playoff stage.

In an unexpected turn of events, Detonate SparX lost more maps in a single night than during the group phase and missed out on an opportunity to play the LAN finals in Dallas.

The playoffs format would see two teams advancing to the international stages of ESL Impact League Season 3 in Dallas, out of the four teams that made the crucial phase of the regional tournament. The former CLG Red squad faced EG Gold, and Detonate SparX faced Shimmer.

Ex-CLG Red made quick work of EG Gold, with Mounira "GooseBreeder" Dobie leading the fragging department with 48 kills. The first map was Ancient and it had a very balanced first half, with EG Gold going into the CT-side down 8-7. After the side change, ex-CLG Red kept the foot on the gas and closed the map 16-11. They would then go to their Overpass pick, where they asserted dominance by winning 16-4. The former CLG Red squad will now go into their second ESL Impact League Finals together.

On the other side of the bracket, SparX encountered Shimmer, who have been on a tear lately, having won four straight ESL Impact Cash Cups, two of them against SparX in the grand final. This time would not be different, despite Shimmer dropping their own Anubis pick 16-9. After that map loss, Nuke would be Lucy "empathy" Verkaik's playground as SparX only managed to get one single round on the board, 16-1 was the final result. Going into the Ancient decider, a mental reset was much needed for Detonate, but the first half would see Shimmer up 12-3 going into the CT-side. Detonate SparX managed to tighten things up a bit, but it was too little too late, as Shimmer won the series after a 16-12 Ancient, and booked their trip to Dallas.

Unfortunately for Detonate SparX they didn't just lose the Dallas spot but lost their highest-rated player Cecily "Chowdzz" Johnson, who revealed after the game they were retiring stating that the women's scene isn't "worth playing" at the moment, choosing to focus on the studies or changing to VALORANT.

ex-CLG Red and Shimmer now join Nigma Galaxy, NAVI Javelins, 9 Pandas Fearless, and HSG in Dallas. There are still two teams remaining to be qualified coming from the South American region and it will be either one of FURIA and Black Dragons, and either one of B4 and MIBR. Those series are played today.